Whilst ‘sulking’ outside the Hilton Hotel, Cardiff after someone pinched his bike, Nellie Perrin catches up with comic genius Simon Evans.
Simon Evans is a skilfully sarcastic and brilliantly sharp-witted character. Infamous for his entertainingly snobbish demeanour and haughty ‘educated’ accent, Simon ‘no eyes’ Evans is shaping up to be one of the most intelligent comic masterminds of our generation. Surprisingly, stand-up was never part of the life plan: “I had no interest in it whatsoever. I wanted to be a writer and somebody asked me to write something about some comedy and improvisation courses that were going on. I signed up to one, which I enjoyed, and fell in with these people. I had a go at it, and it was quite a buzz, it was more of a buzz that I expected it to be.” Despite his lengthy and impressive career, he recalls an early memory of personal elation: “I remember doing my very first opening spot in front of half a dozen people in the back room of a pub in Central London and not being able to stop talking for about three hours afterwards I was so euphoric.”
Regardless of his seven-year break, Simon fell straight back into the swing of things at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival last year with impressive confidence: “To get back into the swing of the fringe wasn’t difficult at all. Doing an hour long show is quite difficult, it always is. Anything more than about half an hour starts to become quite a burden. You have to pace yourself. The Fringe experience is delightful and really doesn’t take much getting used to at all.”
Since then, after side-splitting performances with comedy gurus Michael McIntyre and Lee Mack, Simon takes his magnificent ironic droll to the UK stage alone for the first time in his solo tour, Fringe Magnet: “The audience reaction has been more enthusiastic than I would have hoped. I seem, touch wood, to be sort of developing a profile, people seem to have some idea who I am, which I really wasn’t sure whether that would be the case. So that’s been great.” Simon’s satirical wit and social stereotyping are proving to be a phenomenal success yet he shows an intelligent awareness of boundaries: “I would say that testing the boundaries is part of the job. I don’t like to just outrage and offend people just for the sake of it. But you can usually find that just being on the edge of being naughty is fun.”
Although Simon is relishing the joys of going it alone, he highlights the downsides of touring solo: “It can be a little bit tiresome being away so much and spending so much time on your own. When I was touring with Lee Mack there was a little bit more camaraderie.”
And finally, I am pleased to hear that Simon is already planning another solo tour: “I’m going to have to work very hard and fast to start developing the next one which I’m hoping to launch in October at the Brighton Comedy Festival.”
Simon Evans will be performing at Cardiff’s Glee Club on Sun 23 June, tickets: £12. Info: 08714 720400 / www.glee.co.uk